


Please Don't Bite Me

by ranchelle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Arus-like planet and aliens, Everyone else gets very minor roles except Keith and Lance, Female pronouns for Pidge, Happy Endings For Everyone, M/M, Minor Angst, Minor Original Character(s), Nobody Dies, hyperventilation, not even the zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 11:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9232481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ranchelle/pseuds/ranchelle
Summary: It started out as a simple mission of freeing the technologically primitive dwellers of the planet Notarus from the Galra. They had not expected the Galra bases to be deserted and the local inhabitants of the planet stumbling out from all directions chanting 'blood, blood, blood'.Lance and Keith try to survive what seems like a dire zombie situation.





	

  
It started out as a simple mission of freeing the technologically primitive dwellers of the planet Notarus from the Galra. They had not expected the Galra bases to be deserted and the local inhabitants of the planet stumbling out from all directions chanting 'blood, blood, blood'.

They witnessed the screaming child-sized Laikaroosians frantically running and falling one by one to their zombie-like brethrens. Blood smeared the lips of the crazed masses as their victims became infected and joined them in their rabid quest for blood.

They managed to shake off the worst of the swarm at the cost of Keith's helmet and shield as he took the frontline. They ran, taking a shortcut and cutting through a patch of shrubs and trees with Keith cutting a way through with this bayard. The trees helped to slow down their pursuers. They come out the other side, breathing heavily.

"Incoming at 2 o'clock!" yells Hunk.

They watch in horror as a stream of freshly turned zombies run towards them the direction Hunk is pointing at. They pick up their paces and run.

"We're going to run into them!" cries Hunk.

They come into contact. The zombified locals are easy to deal with in small numbers but Pidge can see there are at least twenty of these creatures coming at them. They can't keep at it swarm after swarm.

Pidge shouts over to the other Paladins, "Any bright ideas?"

"You're the bright one! Figure something out!" Lance screams back, busy dodging a Laikaroosian who lunges for his leg. Keith steps in and bats the crazed creature away with a branch he picked up along the way. The branch breaks. Keith wrinkles up his nose in frustration and tosses it away.

"If you don't have any ideas, then shut up and fight," snaps Keith.

The small zombie-thing moans and stirs, getting back onto its feet and Lance quickly shoots it in the chest with a borrowed Galra gun set in stun mode, rendering it unconscious before it could get up. The no-kill rule is wearing them down fast, and he wonders how long they can last before someone accidentally kills one of the local inhabitants.

"In here!" Pidge points at a building nearby.

They tumble into the Galra base, closing the doors off and blocking out the infected locals. The interior of the base looks clean and maintained, with some of the lights still left on like it was abandoned only recently.

"It just doesn't add up," says Pidge. "If the Galra had meant to attack the inhabitants with a bioweapon, why would they up and leave without so much as a proper packing up.? Could it have been some bio-accident instead?"

Lance spots a layout of the base on the wall and studies it for a tick.

"This way," says Lance, leading them through the corridors. They soon find themselves in a spacious hanger. Pidge looks at the empty docks, her brow furrowing. "The transports are all gone."

"Hey!" says Hunk excitedly, pointing to a pod he is examining. "I think we can use these. They have some sort of control panel we can key coordinates in."

"It looks like it's automated, no pilot required. I surmise it's probably a delivery pod of sorts," says Pidge, checking the pods with Hunk. She keys in some coordinates and presses a few buttons on the panel, thinking out loud. "Hmm, it covers short distances only, but it's enough for this to get to the castle ship."

She looks over the panel, fingers hovering over the blinking lights, and realises something. "It's activated, but I think it looks like it's awaiting some sort of signal. There should be a control tower, panel, or something for this."

"There's a panel over there at the gate," spots Lance. He jogs over to the gate, "This looks likely."

Keith joins him and they look at the screen that comes up when Lance hits a few buttons and a monitor comes up and blinks, waiting for something.

"Test it," says Pidge, who by now has checked several other pods. "We have a few working pods, we can afford it."

Keith instinctively reaches out and presses his palm on the red hand mark on the screen.

The pod shot out of the hanger into the atmosphere.

"It works!" Hunk cheers.

"There's a slight problem, though," says Pidge, her voice tight and slightly strained. "Someone has to stay behind and press that monitor thing to release the pods."

"Pidge and Hunk should get out first. You can come back for us later in your lions," says Keith.

"Okay, sounds like a plan," says Lance. "Get into the pod, Pidge."

"Maybe there's another way to override the controls," says Pidge. "I just need a few minutes—"

She is cut off by Lance, who shoots down a stray zombie wandering in from one of the gates leading out of the hanger. That gives him another boost to the adrenaline still coursing through his veins, which he thinks is why he feels he can play hero right now.

"There's no time. They'll be here in numbers soon. You should go now," says Keith.

"As much as I hate agreeing with Keithy-boy here," says Lance, ignoring the pointed glare he's getting over the pet name, "I have to say that's our best chance."

"Maybe we could find a way to seal off the gates that lead outside? There must be some equipment here that'll allow us send a signal through the magnetic distortion of this planet's atmosphere to the castle." suggests Hunk.

"I wish we could, buddy, but there's more than one gate and they're all looking broken or jammed with debris. We won't be able to hold them off long enough for that to work," says Lance. "You take care of Pidge, yeah?"

Sweat beading on his forehead, Lance goes over to Pidge and firmly hustles her into Hunk's arms. Hunk sees the look in Lance's eyes and nods, clapping his strong hands on the small Paladin and pulls her into a functional pod.

"Stay safe, guys. We'll be right back for you, I promise," says Hunk, gripping tighter onto Pidge, feeling like she would run off to her doom if he let go of her.

"I'm not leaving you behind, I'm not leaving anyone behind again," says Pidge, her voice breaking.

"Hey, we'll be fine, short stuff. You'll come back and save us later, yeah?" Lance grins, even though he's not really feeling it. When the swarm comes, things will get pretty sticky really fast. They did just fight off the equivalent of a zombie tsunami and it took them plan after plan to gradually shake the bloodthirsty creatures off and eventually get to the hanger. Their peace won't last long; Laikaroosians have a strong sense of smell and it is a matter of time before the zombified ones sniff out their trail. Letting Pidge and Hunk leave for reinforcements is the best chance they have.

"Lance—"

"Don't worry, Hunk. I'm pretty smart. I'll figure something out." He knows his voice is shaking. He is scared, very scared. He knows Hunk and Pidge will come back for him. He'll be fine, he tells himself. He keeps a big smile plastered on his face, because he knows if he wants to make it, he'll have to fake it.

"Wait!" yells Pidge.

She takes off her helmet and Hunk gasps, "Put your helmet back on! We don't know if the pod has life support!"

She ignores him, digging her fingers into it and pulls out the transmitter.

"I've modified this. It doesn't work here with Notarus's atmosphere blocking the signals but maybe I might be able to find a way to contact you. Since, you know, both of your helmets are gone. So just—" she presses it against Lance's chest "—hold on to it."

"Thanks, Pidge," says Lance, curling his hands over hers and taking the transmitter from her and tucks it under his collar. He gives them a thumbs up sign and grins.

"Catch ya later, space nerds."

The pod door closes the moment he keys in the coordinates of the castle just hovering off planet, and shoots a thumbs up to Keith over at the control panel near one of the broken gates of the hanger. He presses his palm against the screen to approve the take off and the pod shoots off into the atmosphere. The castle is near enough that it should take only minutes for the pod to reach.

Keith cocks his head at the pod next to him. "Hey, there's one more working delivery pod over here."

"Even if we can find a way to key in the coordinates before the pod door closes, we need someone at the controls to press that big red button of approval," says Lance.

"That means one of us has to stay behind," says Keith.

"Or we can both stay?" suggests Lance.

"I don't see a need for that."

Lance rolls his eyes. When Mullet-head gets an idea like that, he can be so stubborn no amount of talking would get him out of it, so he plays along for now. "How do we decide who gets to leave Zombieland? Rock, paper, scissors? I say two out of three for the win."

Keith huffs through his nose, giving Lance's wit no appreciation. "Whoever fights better should stay behind," he says.

"Well, whoever has a gun should stay behind," argues Lance. "Shooting them from afar is obviously the superior strategy."

Keith swipes Lance's gun from his hand. "Okay, I have a gun now."

"Hey, not fair!" Lance pounces on Keith, trying to get his gun back. Keith sidesteps out of the way and Lance promptly falls on his ass.

"Whoever has a gun stays behind, that's what you said."

"Well, whoever sucks more should get into the pod right now," hisses Lance, getting up and rubbing a sore spot on his butt. He jogs over to the supply crates near the control panels and procures another gun, checking it over and setting it to stun mode.

Keith looks at the gun in his hand and tucks it in his belt behind him. They had used their shield extensively during the first swarm before they made it to the hanger. It seems their equipment are highly incompatible with Notarus itself, weapons and communication alike. His shield had taken the most hits and was the first to go down, energy depleted in a mere few hours.

In this no-kill situation, a gun set to stun will probably be more useful than a stick and no shield, so he holds on to it.

"You suck," says Keith blandly.

"You suck more."

Keith rolls his eyes. "Prove it."

"Well," Lance takes a moment to think of his response, "I'm definitely a bigger plus to the universe than you'll ever be. I can do tons of things that you can't."

Keith bites the bait. "Oh yeah? What the hell can you do that I can't?"

 _Bingo_ , thinks Lance. He chuckles at Keith. "You can't sing, you can't dance, you can't even do a team cheer!"

"What has singing and team cheers got to do with anything?!"

"Morale is vital to any team, my dear naive _padawan_ ," says Lance, looking dead serious.

"What the hell is a padawan."

"Are you serious?" Lance gapes at him.

"Anyway, I can dance," argues Keith. "Sword fighting is kind of like dancing."

"That doesn't count," says Lance, moonwalking backwards over to the pod. "Check these sweet moves out, baby."

"This—" Lance cocks a hip, tilts an invisible hat with one hand and smacks the other backwards at the control panel on the pod to open its door in style, "—is dancing."

Keith shakes his head and laughs, and Lance feels his ears burn at the sound coming from the red Paladin. He blames it all on the nervous energy still running through him.

"All right, enough joking around," says Lance. The adrenaline is starting to wear off and he starting to feel an aching in his arms. He perks up, alert, and shoots two more zombified beings who strays into the hanger. He feels his hands tremble at the effort.

He bites his lips. They probably have another ten minutes, max. The swarm won't be long now.

"Truce, okay? We can both stay. Two heads better than one, yeah?" Lance suggests.

The stunned zombies didn't stay down, regaining consciousness in a matter of minutes. A dozen or so now littered the floors near the gates. Soon, the numbers will be too much to handle.

"No."

"Keith—"

Keith cuts him off. "You get off-planet and I'll hold them off until you get back."

Lance rolls his eyes. _Of course_ they are going to argue over this like everything else.

"I have a gun and unlike you, I actually know how to use it. I can hold out much longer than you possibly can," says Lance.

Keith doesn't let slip the way Lance's hands are trembling with effort after handling recoil after recoil from the constant shooting. "No, you can't. You're tired. Get in there, Lance."

"And let you hog all the glory? No way."

"We're running out of time, you ass!" Keith scowls at him.

Keith grabs Lance by suit's collar—both their helmets gone with the first wave of zombies they fought—and shoves him into the pod.

Lance saw it coming and keeps a foot out. Twisting and hooking the back of Keith's ankle, he yanks as hard as he can. The red paladin gasps as he loses his balance, and Lance swings him around and shoves him into the pod.

"Aaaand another point for Team Blue," crows Lance as he hastily shuts the pod door, ignoring Keith's pounding. He doesn't head for the control panel at the gate, though, and speaks through the door to Keith.

"Cheaters don't win," Lance says, but Keith can't hear it inside the pod. He pauses in his pounding, trying to lip-read what Lance is saying through the glass door. Once Keith looks like he has sufficiently calmed down, Lance punches in the cancel button on the keypad and the pod slides open.

He blocks Keith's exit with his body and warns, "Promise not do that again and I'll let you out of here, deal?"

"You actually prefer to be stuck here? With me?" asks Keith in a disbelieving tone.

"Better than going back alone and having the rest on my case for leaving you behind."

Keith shrugs and gives a non-committal grunt. "Fine. Let's do this."

"Cool." Lance keeps his guard up as he steps away from the pod, letting Keith walk out. He lowers it when they both step away far enough from the pods and knows Keith won't be going back on his word.

"So, what's the plan?"

"We get out of here, preferably higher ground and downwind, and just stay there and wait it out," shrugs Lance.

"And do nothing? Shouldn't we see if there's another Galra base around and find the source of this bioweapon?"

"It's better than to risk accidentally killing the local Laikaroosians just because we suck at hide-and-seek."

"That is...you have a point," Keith concedes, shoulders slumped forward for a moment.

"Right, then," says Lance, feeling antsy once again as he sees the unconscious locals on the ground begin to stir. "Let's get out of here ASAP."  
  


* * *

   
They leave the abandoned Galra hanger and make their way out into the warm and humid air, walking along the walls until they come to edge of the hanger. Keith finds a ladder and climbs it, checking out their surroundings from a higher vantage point.

The hours on this planet are long and they figure they have a few more hours of daylight. Hopefully, the team can locate and extract them before night falls. Keith spots a couple of straggling zombified locals wandering around, sniffing at the air. He quickly removes a glove, licking his finger and holding it up to check the direction of the wind.

"Shit!"

Keith whips around at the sound of Lance's sudden cursing. He slides down from the ladder and sees the beginnings of a swarm turning a corner around the wall and heading their way.

"Shit," Keith agrees. "They can definitely smell us."

"Shut up and run!" yells Lance.

At the next corner, a group of frenzied zombies run out, catching them by surprise. Lance activates his shield and they crash against it. He crouches down to prevent getting knocked over he takes the hit. Keith comes from behind him and presses his arm against the shield and they push the wave back. Using the opening, Lance shoots at the ones right in front of him and they fall. His shield makes a crackling sound and blinks off for a second before coming back on. Notarus's atmosphere definitely disagrees with Altaen tech.

"Damn," pants Lance. "Get to the forest, it'll be easier to lose them there."

"Okay," says Keith. Lance realise Keith is panting too, but they can't afford to slow down. They take a sharp turn into a lightly forested area, zig-zagging through the trees, The diseased Laikaroosians are running, but their short stature and equally short legs meant Lance can easily outrun them. His stamina is finite and by the time he makes it through most of the forest, he is itching for a breather. He takes it, letting Keith climb a tree and survey their surroundings. At least they've lost most of the Laikaroosians on their tails. Keith checks the wind on his finger once more. He hops down the tree, looks back at Lance and points in the direction they should head. Lance nods to let him know he's right behind.

They keep off the paths, staying alert as they slow down, and keep walking to put a little more distance between them and their horde of pursuers.

Keith spots a tower sticking out in a distance, and decides to go in that direction.

"Hey, wait up," says Lance, reaching out and grabbing Keith's arm. "Where are you going?"

"That looks like a Galra structure, we might be able to find information there," says Keith.

Lance sees no point in stopping him, but they can't risk running into another swarm. "We approach carefully and scram if it's dangerous, got it?"

Keith doesn't have the energy to argue and simply glares at him. "Fine."

There is a small beaten out path on the way up the hill, with track marks that Lance conclude to be Galran transports. The tower is much closer and smaller than it seems, and it is as deserted as the hanger. They take a few steps down a corridor and turn into the nearest room. A few crates of supplies lying around.

"Hey, do you think we could maybe find something in this place to send a signal to the castle?" He asks, just to break the silence a bit.

Keith shrugs.

"Some help you are," grumbles Lance. He sits down on an unopened crate and watches as Keith lean against the wall, slides down to the cool floor, taking the gun out from his belt and holding it in his folded arms. His half-closed eyes are alert as he rests, pupils darting around at the slightest noises.

Lance leans forward, rubbing his face with a hand. His cheeks are still warm from exertion, his breathing still hasn't slowed back to normal, which might be a good thing since they may have to up and run anytime.

Still, a breather is a breather, and Lance is grateful for a moment of rest.

"We need to see if there's more than one exit; we can't stay here," says Keith, softly, but he doesn't try to stand up, and Lance has a good guess as to why. His own legs are a little wobbly right now and he could use another five minutes of not standing up. Keith's shoulders are slightly shaking when he breathes, and Lance knows he's probably just as tired as Lance is.

"We'll just rest up for a few and then get back to that," says Lance, and Keith hums in agreement.

"So..." Lance starts the conversation, not wanting the few minutes to be awkward silence.

"Back there," Keith says, his voice still soft, still wary. He clears his throat and tries again. "Back there...at the hanger, why didn't you do it?"

"Do what?" Lance blinks.

"I don't know," says Keith, grinding down his teeth, "push the button? Eject the pod into space? Why didn't you do it?"

"Oh, that. I don't know. I just felt like it."

"After all the big talk about being able to hold out on your own?" says Keith, puzzlement taking over the irritation on his face. "You had the chance to get rid of me but you didn't take it."

Lance clicks his tongue at the accusation. He had wanted to stay behind, but he knew he couldn't work the Galran control panel back there. He knew, from one look at the panel, that only Keith could authorise the release of the pods. Keith doesn't know that, and Lance would keep it that way for now. He has his suspicions, but this isn't the time to say anything. Not yet.

He turns the question back to Keith.

"Would you have done it?" asks Lance. "If our positions were reversed?"

Keith looked at Lance in the eye and without batting an eyelid, says with quiet confidence. "Yeah. Yeah, I would."

"Of course you would. So _perfec_ t, aren't you?" hisses Lance. He had anticipated Keith's answer, but he hadn't anticipated how _raw_  his nerves would feel until he actually hears it.

His words gets a rise out of Keith. "What's your problem? You're the one who chose to keep me around. Maybe you were so _scared_  that you chickened out?"

 _Oh, the problem's all yours. You know, you're probably not human, but you don't even know that and you now think I'm a coward for not making you leave because, well, I can't operate Galra technology?_  Lance's lips curl up in disgust at the injustice of the insult he does not deserve. He doesn't want to hold back; he doesn't need to.

"I'm not scared! Fuck you, you don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, enlighten me, you asshole! All that talk and no action," says Keith, sneering back.

Maybe it's the aches in his body talking, or the pent-up frustration of having to watch Keith not have a care in the world. He bets Keith doesn't have to push down the shaking and the fear he felt every minute he was here. Keith doesn't see it, feel it, doesn't even know what fear is. So woefully, blissfully ignorant.

He pushes himself to his feet, stumbles forward and and grabs a fistful of the suit material around Keith's neck.

Keith jerks back, but Lance holds on tight, making him wince with the stinging of his hair being pulled with his collar.

"Quit trying to act like you're better than me!"

"When the hell have I ever done that?" snaps Keith.

"You have everything I could ever want! Stop fucking flaunting it!" Lance shakes him, and he claws at Lance to let go.

"You!" _How dare Lance feel that way when he—_  Keith feels the heat building up, and hears his heart pounding in his ears. Feral anger flashes across his face as he grips Lance's wrist, digging his nails in hard. "You're the one who has everything and flaunting it in front of me!"

Lance's eyes widen, looking stunned for a second.

Then he scowls and hisses in Keith's face, "You don't know anything! How dare you!" Lance didn't think he'd be the one to start it, but pulls his arm back to drive a fist into Keith's face. It wasn't his best shot, but there is a satisfying smacking sound that makes Lance feel retribution has been served.

Keith was taken by surprise by the punch, but almost immediately channels his anger into retaliating. He punches back, and Lance's body is too sluggish to dodge. He feels his teeth cut the inside of his cheek and spits a gob of bloody saliva at Keith's face.

Keith wipes it off and snarls. He lunges at Lance, but he is just as tired, and his punches weaken. Lance scrabbles and grabs at his hair, pulling painfully. Keith still has one more move—he clamps his hands over Lance's ears to hold him still, and smashes their foreheads together.

"Fuck!" Lance yells out as his vision bursts into a sea of flickering white and the pain vibrates through his entire skull.

He draws back his knees and kicks Keith off him, knocking him back into the wall.

"If you wanted me gone that badly, you should've pressed that button when you had the chance!" snarls Keith.

"You think I don't want you gone? I'd eject your pod too if I could!

"Then what the hell is stopping you!?" yells Keith.

"I can't because of that stupid control panel only you can use!"

Keith's eyes narrow at him. "What do you mean?"

Lance zips it, knowing he's said too much.

"What panel? Is it the one to release the pods? What do you mean only I can use it?"

Keith storms back into his space.

Too fast, too soon. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know," growls Lance, taking a step back.

"Damn it, Lance! If you know something I don't, don't fucking hang it over my head!"

"What if I like hanging it over your head? Maybe you don't notice these things because you think you're so perfect, or, maybe. You. Don't. Want. To."

"Tell me," Keith grips Lance's elbow, his fingers pressing painfully into the unarmoured part of his arm.

"Tell you what?" Lance glares back, his eyes narrowing.

"Fuck you," Keith shoves Lance, hard, and leaves the room.  
  


* * *

  
They don't talk for the next half an hour, keeping a respectful distance from each other as they search the tower room by room, mentally mapping out the place. Keith can still taste the coppery tinge of blood in his mouth. He is angry because Lance confuses him every time he opens his mouth, and he hates knowing that there's something Lance knows and he doesn't.

After a while, Lance clears his throat and begins, "You think you'd really survive if you were left by yourself?"

Keith wonders if Lance is baiting him, trying to continue the argument left just now.

"Drop it, Lance," threatens Keith.

"Humour me," says Lance.

Maybe he's tired. Maybe they're tired. Lance doesn't sound like he's picking a fight now.

"I'm sure I could." There is less sarcasm in his voice than he hopes.

"By beating off zombies with a stick. Riiight. So, why did you think it was a good idea for me to get into the pod?" says Lance, no heat in his voice, just weariness. "I mean, we've got Hunk and Pidge out, and I can get behind why they gotta leave first."

Maybe Keith should be logical about this. He's tired and he doesn't want it to end up yet another argument. He's tired of this place, tired of arguing with Lance, tired of the heavy tension in the air after their fight.

He sighs.

"Pidge and Hunk are our best chances of survival in this situation, so it makes sense they get to safety first. Then you, because they do better with you around."

"Did you just imply they should go first not because I'm better at surviving but because I'm their frickin' cheerleader? So in your Most-Useful-Paladins list, I'm number three?" Lance pokes at him in a jovial manner, a little smile that seems almost apologetic.

 _Cheerleader,_  Keith muses at Lance's word choice, and he feels some measure of relief at Lance's light tone of voice.

"Technically," Keith tries his hand to lighten the mood and makes a show of counting off his fingers, "You're number six."

"How the hell did you pull that number out when we have only FIVE paladins?"

"I've included Coran and Allura as possible pilots," says Keith.

Lance sniffs, trying to get around his bruised ego and find something safe to respond with. He comes back with a snappy "I bet Shiro's top of your list".

Keith raises a brow at him and takes his time to reply. "Shiro's...number five on that list."

"What!" Lance screeches, then chokes on his spit and coughs. "Shiro is number five?! How the hell do you pull this ranking out of your ass?"

Keith bites back a chuckle. "In battle, Shiro's the best soldier we have, but fighters and pilots can be replaced. Pidge, Hunk, Allura and Coran? It's much harder to replace the knowledge they possess. Our job is to protect them."

"Okay, I think you just implied that I'm stupid."

"The stuff you know? Fits on a paper aeroplane," a grin breaks out on Keith's face. They're in familiar 'bickering' territory now, and he's going with it.

"But what you have is less than what I have," scowls Lance, remembering that one argument. A realisation suddenly strikes him and he blurts out, "Wait, does this mean you're last on that list?"

"It's actually a 'Who-to-defend-first' list, not a 'Least-useful-Paladins' list," says Keith.

"Oh, okay," says Lance, pointing his finger back and forth at the both of them. "So it completely makes sense to you that we're the last two left behind here because we're....good fighters?"

"Uh...I guess?" shrugs Keith.

"In any case, it's good to know I rank higher than you."

"In this case it means I'm a better fighter than you, dumbass. "

"Sure you fight well, but I'm definitely smarter," grins Lance.

 _Sorry for punching your pretty face_ , thinks Lance as he looks at the darkening bruise blooming on Keith's cheek, but he knows it's too soon to apologise. He doesn't feel ready to talk about it. Not yet. Joking around like this is probably for the best. He keeps the smile on his face.

"You're definitely top on the 'most annoying Paladin' list." Keith raises a brow and give him a smug smile, and Lance really wants that smile to last.

"You mean 'Most Desirable'," says Lance.

"Top of the Flirt-and-Fail list."

"Says the one who can't even dance."

"You call that dancing?" taunts Keith.

Lance takes the chance that he sees, raising his arms behind his head and doing a little shimmy with his hips. "Yeah, I do. Nobody can resist this booty!"

Keith feels heat rising up to his face. He narrows his eyes and looks away. Lance notices it and he feels excitement tingling in his stomach at how adorable Keith is.

"Too much for you?"

Keith freezes up like a deer caught in headlights.

"As if!" he grinds out between his teeth and storms on ahead.

"Hey," Lance runs after Keith and gives his elbow a quick tug, stopping him in his steps.

"What?"

Lance points over Keith's shoulder at a room at the end of corridor. Keith turns around and a surprised gasp catches in his throat when he almost bumps into Lance's face. He looks away, his cheeks a little warm, and he tells himself it doesn't have anything to do with Lance looking as just as surprised as he feels.

"We should check that room out," Lance says. His voice sounds more strained than he thought it would be and he hopes Keith doesn't hear it.

"Okay," Keith replies, a little breathless.

A small light flickers on a circuit board at the wall of the room, which is what caught Lance's sharp eyes in the first place and led them in. There is a monitor and a large control console. Something that looks like a microphone sticks out of it. The power is still running and Keith gravitates towards it, experimentally presses a few buttons. Lance jumps at the monitor lighting up.

"Shit!" Lance snaps at Keith. "Give a man a warning before you play with alien technology!"

"Don't make a fuss over nothing," huffs Keith as he looks at the symbols appearing on the monitor. Some pictures come up next to the symbols. Keith traces the screen with a finger at the column of pictures, and pushes a knob on the console to scroll down.

He presses a button. Nothing happens.

"Let the expert show you how it's done," says Lance, nudging him aside and tries his hand at pressing something too.

An angry looking Galran officer appears on the screen. The two paladins duck their heads under the console in a hummingbird's heartbeat, hearing a few seconds of the hum of airship ventilation followed by a harsh, impatient voice talking.

"The constant delay in the shipment is inexcusable, soldier. We will not send reinforcements over something so trivial. I expect you to have the situation under control the next time you contact me."

Lance peeks over the console when he hears the video fizzes out and the screen goes back to its previous list of symbols and pictures. He pokes a button and the next video comes up. To play it safe, he ducks back under the console next to Keith as the same Galran officer's face comes up on the screen.

"I have received your reports on the sudden mass aggression of the local inhabitants and the illness spreading among the troops. The resources obtained are meagre and not worth building more bases for. I approve the abandonment of this project. You have one cycle to bring everything of use back to the ships."

The video ends there, going back to the previous display.

"I think those are recorded conferences," says Lance, peeking out and then pulling himself up with the edge of the console. He dusts off his lap out of habit, and holds out a hand to Keith. Keith stares for a second, and Lance waggles a brow at his hand. Keith snorts a laugh and gives in, holding out his hand and letting Lance pull him up from under the console.

"It looks like the Galra have completely abandoned this planet," says Keith.

"After leaving a royal mess behind," Lance sighs. "There's still something that seems kind of off to me. Let's just quickly go over what we know about this situation."

Keith folds his arms and leans on a wall. He might as well rest if they were going to just talk. "We heard rumours that the Galra was attacking the Laikaroosians, so we came to check it out three days ago."

"Just two days ago I came here with my lions to check things out but as soon as I landed near their village, the Laikaroosians totally freaked out and threatened to sacrifice their young to the 'lion gods'. Not even the cloaking device works due to the funky atmosphere here so we came back today in a more normal-looking transport."

Lance squeezes the back of his neck, feeling it ache. He continues recalling the events.

"And today we saw half the village was running from the other zombified half, and our transport was overrun so we left it behind. They pretty much became this big swarm we ran away from. Then we found a Galra hanger, got Hunk and Pidge outta here, and right now it's just you and me in some sort of comm tower. We'll probably be surrounded by hundreds of sick aliens yelling for our blood if Hunk and Pidge don't come back for us soon," sighs Lance.

Keith gives him the equipment count, "We have just your shield, two guns set in stun mode, my dagger, and no helmets. Finding another shield would be useful. If it comes down to it, I guess I'll have to use my bayard."

"I don't know how much we can trust our bayards to work here," says Lance. "And I'm pretty close to agreeing with you on taking out our bayards and risk breaking the no-kill rule if it comes down to it."

"If it comes down to it," nods Keith.

Lance scratches the back of his neck absent and asks, "Hey, you ever watch zombie movies?"

"I don't really watch TV," says Keith.

"Huh, but we're like right in the middle of one right now, if you haven't figured it out yet."

"Zombies aren't real. Rotting bodies can't exactly move."

"Look around us, buddy, we're surrounded and chased by tiny half-dead looking aliens chanting for fresh blood. We're running out of gas but they aren't stopping." Lance breathes out slowly and adds in a soft and low voice, "What if we get infected too? I don't want either of us to become bloodthirsty zombies. Imagine if you have to...put me down."

"Oh," says Keith. He hasn't entertained this thought before, and now that he does, he finds Lance's fear valid. "That is...kind of a scary thought."

Lance throws up his arms tiredly. "Exactly!"

They stay silent for a while, then Keith clears his throat and tries to lighten the mood.

"I wonder how the Laikaroosians got so sick. They were kind of cute before all this," Keith says, sounding a little sad.

"Yeah, they're pretty cute," agrees Lance. "They look really familiar too, you know, small and cute, like...uhh..."

"Like...Arusians?" says Keith, recalling the inhabitants of Arus fondly.

"Oh my god. Keith. I didn't think of that until you mentioned it," says Lance.

"What?"

"Laikaroosians," says Lance, staring Keith in the eye.

"Uh, yeah? What about them?"

"They look like Arusians, that's why they're called Laikaroosians."

"I don't see your point?"

"Keeeiiitthhh," Lance can't decide whether to laugh or cry as he tries one last time, "Like. Arusians. Laikaroosians!"

"What about it?" Keith frowns.

"Oh. My. Quiznak. Are you for real?" The Voltron cheer was one thing, but a pun this obvious? Lance's jaw drops and he stares bug-eyed at the oblivious paladin. He snorts, and it turns into a hiccup-like giggle as he suppresses his laughter.

"What the hell are you trying to get at, Lance?" snaps Keith. He steps away from the wall, clenching his fists, ready to walk out of this room if he has to.

"Okay, sorry." Lance coughs as he tries to stop his giggling. "So—" his coughing interrupts him and Keith waits impatiently for him to continue, "The Galra did something to make the local inhabitants sick. We had suspected a bioweapon of sorts, but now I'm not so sure."

"Why?" asks Keith.

"It didn't sound like the Galra did this on purpose, whatever this mess is."

"Couldn't it be some bioweapon or biohazard accident?"

"We don't see anything remotely hinting of a facility producing anything biohazardous in the hanger or over here. All we have heard from that video just now was the Galra themselves getting sick. Maybe it's a zombie plague of sorts the Galra brought in, like a reverse Trojan horse. Oh my god, what if it's actually airborne and we're both sick without knowing and in a matter of minutes we'll turn into bloodthirsty zombies ourselves?"

"Hunk took a sample of the air the moment we landed earlier on and had Coran analyse it. It didn't contain anything harmful to us. I doubt that'll change," says Keith, ever the unimaginative one. "Besides, from what we saw, the illness affects only those that are bitten by the sick ones."

"If I get bitten, promise me you won't leave me behind to turn into a zombie and die by myself," says Lance.

"Then don't get bitten?" suggests Keith, like it's the easiest thing to do.

Lance buries his face in his hands and groans loudly. How can this man be so _pretty_  and _infuriating_  at the same time?

"What?" Keith knits his brows in frustration and Lance swears he's pouting with those soft-looking lips of his.

"Keith, buddy, listen," Lance goes up to him and swings an arm around his shoulder, trying to make it look casual because he really wants to touch Keith this moment, and feels the hard muscles stiffen even more under his touch. _Holy shit, is he always this tense?_  He pulls back and tries again, giving him a casual pat on Keith's shoulder and letting that hand stay there. Keith's shoulders relaxes a little.

 _Okay, I'm smooth. It's gonna be fine,_  thinks Lance.

"Sometimes you gotta plan for the worst case scenario, yeah?"

Keith raises a brow at the forced grin on Lance's face and feels the cool hand on his shoulder quiver slightly.

"Lance, you don't have to think about it if it's scaring you," says Keith. "We can just focus on surviving until the others return."

Lance blinks and his mouth gapes. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot you're really good at the surviving-in-the-wild thing. After all, you did live in the desert by yourself for a year."

"It wasn't that bad out there. I had electricity and I made trips to town to get whatever I needed," says Keith.

"Still," Lance drums his fingers against Keith's shoulder. "Sand everywhere."

"Yeah, the sand does get everywhere," conceded Keith.

Another moment of awkward silence as Lance purses his lips, his brows slightly furrowed as his one big question still hangs unanswered. Keith brings his bare hand to clasp those gloved fingers still there on his shoulder.

"Hey, it'll be fine. _You'll_  be fine," says Keith, giving his hand a squeeze. "I won't leave you alone if you get bitten, I promise."

Keith's words settle him, and his fidgeting eases up slightly.

"Pinky swear on it," Lance finally pulling his hand away from Keith and holding up his little finger. Keith stares at it. Lance explains, "Hook your little finger around mine."

"I don't see the point of this," says Keith, but he does it anyway.

"This seals the deal," says Lance, shaking their pinkies-joined hands in an awkward up-down motion, speaking in a bouncing rhythm. "Don't leave me to zombies and I'll do the same for you."

"This looks ridiculous," laughs Keith, but shakes Lance's hand anyway.

"Rude," Lance punches Keith in the arm with his free hand. "Why the hell aren't you scared anyway?"

Keith rolls his eyes. "I'm too busy trying to deal with your shitty jokes to feel scared."

"Asshole. My jokes are the best."

"Do you see me laughing at them?"

"That's because you have no taste."

Keith snorts through his nose. Lance decides to let it go and changes the subject.

"Hey, wanna try going back to our transport? If we're lucky, the coast'll be clear," says Lance. The transport right now seems to be their best bet to leaving this planet together. They didn't exactly crash land, so it should be good for takeoff. They could take the chance.

"It's worth a try," says Keith.  


* * *

 

It wasn't worth the try.

  
As soon as they get near the village, they see dozens of zombified Laikaroosians milling near the transport.

"Ugh, we don't have a chance," says Lance, keeping his voice down.

"Maybe if we create a distraction and then go for it?" says Keith.

"A distraction?" Lance looks about him. The wind is on their side for now, and they're further shielded by the trees, staying away from the foot paths leading into the village. Maybe he can think of something—he is interrupted by some yelling—he looks in the direction of the sound and sees two Laikaroosians shouting for help and running from a few of the zombies hot on their heels.

There are still survivors, Lance realises. Upon seeing them, the Laikaroosians yell for help, and trip. Three of the zombies are catching up right behind. He has to do something, quick.

He whips out his gun but Keith dashes past and beats him to it. The black-haired man comes right between the two survivors and their chasers, and crouches down before sending the nearest zombie flying with a kick. Staying low, he elbows another in the face, then pulls the gun from his belt to shoot the remaining one point blank. The two Laikaroosians pick themselves up from the ground and run, but their legs are short and they don't go far.

"Keith!" Lance shoots down one that is coming up behind him. The scene they make attracts the ones from the transport not far away.

"Shit!" he curses as he tucks his gun away and scoops up one of the panicking Laikaroosians under his arm. He yells to Keith, "Get the other one and run!"

Keith smoothly does the same and they run back the way they came, into the forest and using the trees and foliage to lose their pursuers. The charges under their arms are heavier than they look but Lance is thankful they aren't struggling.

After a while, they set down the aliens, panting heavily, taking a quick breather in the cover of the trees.

Keith keeps a watch out as Lance kneels down and tends to the two distressed Laikaroosians.

"Are you all right?" asks Lance. The two Laikaroosians look at each other for a tick and then fall to their knees, prostrating themselves before him.

"Great Blue One, we are eternally grateful for our rescue," says one of them, his voice shaky. "We have nothing but a dance of gratitude to offer."

"That can wait, er..." says Lance, looking to the taller of the pair who spoke up.

"My name is Zeiglip," says the taller one. "This is my younger sister, Plikkip."

"Zeiglip," addresses Lance, "can you tell us anything about what happened here?"

The older Laikaroosian gets to his feet and stands at attention.

"The tall purple ones came at first, then built weird structures. They chased us away and threatened to kill us if we got in their way," says Zeiglip, whose eyes start to tear up as he recounts their experience. "They started digging, taking away our food and our metal. Then yesterday, some of our friends started feeling sick, and bit us. I don't remember much after. When my mind cleared, the tall purple ones were bleeding and running away. We were trying to go back to our village but our sick friends bit and chased us."

"You're cured?" says Lance incredulously as he inferred from Zeiglip's words. "You bit a Galra and it cured you? And there are others who are cured, like you?"

"You're immune," points out Keith, his eyes catching a small bitemark on Zeiglip's arm. "You got bitten just now but you're not sick."

"The others who are cured are hiding in the village half a day from here," says Zeiglip. He looks down to the floor and shuffles his feet. "We came out here because we wanted to find our friends."

A sniffle comes from behind Zeiglip. Lance holds his arms out to the tiny Laikaroosian and gives a smile.

"Hey, it's okay now," reassures Lance. Plikkip stumbles forward into his arms and he gently hugs her tiny shoulders. He rubs circles on her tiny back while she cries, hiccoughing when she tries to stop.

"We should keep moving," says Keith. Lance looks to him and nods. He picks up the small Laikaroosian and start walking towards the control tower, letting Keith lead them.

"It'll be all right, I promise," says Lance. "We'll find a way to cure your friends."

After a while, her soft sobbing subsides. She wriggles in his arms and he sets her down. The child runs to Zeiglip and holds his hand.

"We'll be all right, Zeig," says Plikkip. "These Tall Ones will save us."

Zeiglip squeezes her hand a little tighter.

"We'll keep you safe, I promise," says Lance, trying his best to believe in his own words as he takes the rear. He feels a little braver now with two Laikaroosian children in his care.

"We have to find a way to contact the castle and let them know there is a cure," says Lance, trudging up the gentle slope leading to the control tower.

"We could try and retrieve one of our helmets, but our helmet signal isn't strong enough to get through the magnetic interference of this planet's atmosphere," says Keith.

"We'll have to think of something else, then," shrugs Lance.

"I don't like the idea of sitting around and waiting," growls Keith. "You bring them to the tower, I'll go back and grab a helmet. Maybe we'll figure something out by then."

"No, that's even riskier than trying to get back to the transport," Lance shakes his head. He fishes out the transmitter Pidge gave him from under his collar and turns it over his fingers. "Besides, we don't need to do that. Pidge left me a transmitter."

Lance looks down at the transmitter and sees a little wire sticking of it. Can this be the antennae? He picks at it and finds it detachable, and he grins. This might just work. Lance stops in his steps. He looks to the big dish on top of the Galran tower.

"Hey," he calls out to Keith. "I wanna try something. Let's settle these two down in the control room and get up to that satellite thing."

They walk the two young Laikaroosians to the tower, bringing them to the control room.

Lance ruffles the hair of the younger child. "You take care of your brother, okay?" She looks like a tiny fierce warrior, beating a fist to her breast and nodding enthusiastically.

He looks to the Zeiglip. "We're just going to the top of the tower for a bit to check things out. I need you to be brave and stay here. Oh, and keep the door closed."

Zeiglip gives a salute and Lance can't help smiling at the cute pair trying their best to be strong.

As they make their way up the tower, Keith tries to sound casual. "You're, umm, good with kids, huh."

"I don't know if I am," Lance scratches the back of his neck "I have a niece and nephew back home. We all live together so it's pretty chaotic all the time."

"How so?"

"For one, every meal is a battle and the loser gets no meat. You can't even show a kid mercy if you want to eat," grins Lance. "Oh man, and the toilet paper is always out, the floor is never free of hair, the laundry never ends and dirty dishes take forever to clean. Endless, I tell you. All the perks and joy of having a big family and all, you know?"

"No, I don't," replies Keith.

"You don't what?"

"I don't know," _about having a family_  he thinks, and clears both his throat and that thought away. "About your family, that is," he adds, and looks away, trying to look nonchalant, but sneaks looks back at Lance as they walk, wondering if Lance will tell him more. He has seen Lance moping about the castle more than once and Hunk had told him Lance was simply homesick. He wonders what sort of family Lance had back on Earth that makes him so attached to it.

Lance snorts. "Are you actually interested in listening to me go on and on about my folks?"

"I kinda am?" It sounds more like a question than a reply.

"You get me started and I won't stop even if you beg me to," says Lance, the corners of his lips tugging up into a grin as he thinks of them. He can almost hear his mamá's loud voice yelling at him to do the laundry and his papá's sighs as he picks up Lance's socks after him. Who has time pick up socks when he's got his hands full showing Martin and Isabella how to make the best aerodynamic paper airplanes in the universe?

"When I'm feeling masochistic enough, I'll take you up on that," Keith gives him a smirk.

Lance shoots him finger guns and grins back, "Holding you onto it, buddy."

They reach the top of the tower, a flimsy sort of roof with only ladders and no railings, and Lance mutter aloud how Galra technology can be so sloppy. There is a light breeze on the air, and for a second, Keith enjoyed it on his face until he remembered that the wind would bring their scents down to wherever the horde of sick Laikaroosians would be.

"We shouldn't stay out long," he says to Lance.

Lance nods. He runs his hand over the base of the dish, trying to find where it's connected to. Keith joins in, and in a minute, finds the box containing wires.

"This one, probably," says Keith as he pulls out a red wire.

Lance rolls his eyes. "Did you pull that one out just because it's red?"

"Of course not, you idiot," snaps Keith. He traces the wire and points to the markings on the metal plates above it. "This one has the same symbols as the ones that came up on the video. It's probably for video conferencing or shit like that."

"They look all gibberish to me. Where did you learn to read that?"

"Just try it, asswipe."

"Aww, you kiss Shiro with that mouth?"

"What—" Keith's eyes widen, "How did you, uh, no, I—I don't, uh, why the hell would I— Ugh! Why would you ask me something like that?" He turns a little red, and Lance feels like he might have touched on something he shouldn't.

Lance's eyes widen too, realising what he just implied. "I was going to ask if you kiss your mom with that mouth, but Shiro is like the closest thing here to your mom, so it just slipped out! Also, pretty much everyone wants Shiro, I mean, just look at that face! Who wouldn't want to smooch that?" Lance smacks a palm over his own mouth. _Stop rambling, Lance! Forget putting your foot in your mouth, you're shoving your whole leg down your throat now!_

"Well, you're right. About Shiro. He's, uh, attractive, I won't deny that. But why would I want to kiss anyone?"

"It's just a figure of speech!" Lance throws his arms up in exasperation. "Do you even know what that is?"

"I _know_ what a figure of speech is! Asking if I kiss Shiro isn't one!"

Lance slaps his forehead and groans. "You know what, my bad, just drop it."

"You, uh, kiss your mom in your family?" ventures Keith.

"Yeah, I do! We do that all the time. Many families do, I guess."

Keith stays silent.

"Well," Lance tests the waters. "Some families aren't so tactile so they don't do that. Much. That's perfectly normal too."

Keith nods.

"But! Team Voltron has free-flow hugs and kisses," Lance points out. "We're family. A Space Family."

The corner of Keith's mouth tugs into a lop-sided smile and Lance can't help staring at a dimpled spot that appears on his cheek.

"Sounds good," says Keith.

Lance clears his suddenly dry throat, and adds, "And we have Hunk. He's the ultimate hugging machine. His kisses are really good too, if you don't mind that stuff. Platonically, of course, because I'm pretty sure he's reserving the romantic smooches for a particular Balmeran."

"You're right, Hunk's hugs are the best," Keith perks up and smiles, looking like he's just been praised by Shiro.

"Right," coughs Lance, grabbing the wire from Keith and connecting it to the transmitter. "Let's go home soon and get ourselves some of those good Hunky hugs." He thinks he hears Keith agree with him as he works on the transmitter.

Turns out, Keith was right. It was the red wire.

Minutes after he turns the transmitter on, some static comes through, and Hunk's voice comes in.

"Holy—" says Hunk through the static. "Lance, is that you?"

"Yeah, buddy!" says Lance loudly, wondering if there's static on Hunk's side as well. "You'll have to speak up. Our signal's not too good."

"Just hang in there, Allura will get your coordinates," says Hunk. There was a pause, some yelling on Hunk's end and loud sounds of metal hitting metal. "We're a little busy at the moment, so do you think you can hang in there for maybe another hour?"

Lance looks at Keith and Keith shrugs.  
  
"Sure," says Keith.

"Yeah, yeah, we can. Take your time, buddy," says Lance. "Are you all right?"

"Well, Pidge and Shiro infiltrated a Galra ship to search for the cure—AHH THAT WAS CLOSE—and they're busy fighting Galra drones right now—" they can hear more loud shooting and Hunk lets out a whoop, "I'm on the way to retrieve them!"

"Don't worry about us! Just focus on getting them back safe and sound, yeah?" says Lance.

"We'll come for you as soon as we can!" comes Hunk's voice.  
  
Lance suddenly remembers he needed to let them know about the cure and hastily yells, "Hunk! The cure has something to do with Galra—" The transmission goes through another minute of static and cuts off— "blood." He groans and looks to Keith. "I guess we should, like, check back in an hour?"

"I don't think we have an hour," Keith's eyes narrow in focus as he looks over the tower.

Lance follows his line of sight.

There is a group of diseased Laikaroosians—Lance supposes it's wrong to call them 'zombies' now it is proven they aren't dead, but he's gotten so used to calling them that in his head—heading their direction. Seeing how they are steadily heading their way, they must have caught the paladins' scent on the wind.

"We're fucked," says Lance.

Keith gives him a grim smile. "Yeah, we are."  


* * *

  
Lance wishes it was all just a bad dream.

It looks and feels like a bad scene out a horror movie, surrounded by bloodthirsty little hobbits-turned-gremlins. He wants to scream and cry and go home.

He's seen a lot of weird things in space. He can deal with a whole species of aggressive purple furries trying to take over the known universe, but a real life horror movie like this with the looming fear of one of them turning into a zombie? He feels sluggish, like he's underwater. He sees Keith kick away and shoot the blood-sucking Laikaroosians one by one, and hears him pant and grunt with each exertion.

"Lance!"

He snaps to attention when called, and methodically shoots the two approaching him. The bloodthirsty ones are ceaseless. His focus turns to dust in a tick and he finds himself breathing too hard, too fast. His fingers are numb, he can't feel his feet. He holds his shield up, watching it finally sputter and give out after taking another hit. He staggers back, staring as another wave of Laikaroosians rush towards them.

"Lance!"

His name is being called again.

"Can you move?"

Lance doesn't reply. All he wants right now is to _breathe_.

"Get behind me," comes the voice again.

Lance knows he has to focus, has to shoot, but his gun is so heavy, his hands are shaking and he can't aim anymore. He doesn't want to shoot down anything. He doesn't want to kill. _We haven't killed anyone yet, right?_ He looks down at his hand. Part of his sleeve is torn off and his glove is gone. It is covered in blood. He follows the trail of blood up his arm.

_Why am I covered in blood?_

_Is it mine?_

_Why am I bleeding?_

_Oh right, I did that to myself,_  he recalls belatedly. They had to lead the incoming swarm away from the control tower to keep the place safe and to have a chance to go back to it later. He had sliced the back of his forearm and used the scent of fresh blood to lead the swarm away.

He shakes his arm, willing the numbness to go away. He drops his gun as his fingers lose their grip.

Someone pulls his hand and they run. He can feel the slick of his blood in their joined palms.

"Lance, say something," comes the voice again, urgent and filled with worry.

"Hey," he croaks, his voice feels so tight and speaking is hard, "Sorry, I—"

"Here," the gun he dropped is pressed back into his hands. "Can you still shoot?"

Lance nods. He can still go. The fog in his mind is clearing, but he is still breathing hard.

He gets pulled along for another minute, and it doesn't help. He knows they won't get a break. The bloodthirsty ones will follow him. He can feel the blood still dripping down his arm.

They put a little more distance between them and their pursuers, but it's a matter of time before the stunned ones regain consciousness and the full strength of the swarm comes to them again.

A few minutes will have to do. He wills himself to slow his breathing as much as he is able to. He looks at his gun, then slowly looks around. The trees are slowing their ceaseless pursuers down.

"You'll be okay?" comes the voice, and he looks to the voice. It's Keith. He looks funny, his mullet all messed up and a deep pouty frown on his face. He pokes Keith in the cheek. Keith calls him an ass.

"Yeah." Oh. He feels better now. He gives a weak smile.

He watches as Keith takes out the dagger that never leaves his side, cuts the blood-soaked material further up Lance's sleeve and peels it off. He cuts a stretch of material off his own sleeve and wraps the blood-free fabric over Lance's wound to staunch the bleeding. He picks up the soiled material and tucks it in his belt.

"I'll distract them. You go back to the tower. The wind's blowing the other way now, so it should be all right. If you close the doors, I'm sure you can last until the others come."

"Keith," Lance gasps, his voice not fully back.

"I'll meet you back at the tower," says Keith. He smiles, but the dimple Lance has come to adore isn't there. He presses his hand to Lance's cheek and rubs his thumb over it.

Lance wants to lean into it, but his eyes are wide and unfocused and he doesn't move.

"You've, um, got a spot of blood there," says Keith.

"Keith," Lance tries again, his voice cracking, but stronger now. He doesn't want to panic, he wants to calm down, but if Keith leaves him here, he doesn't know if he will cry.

"See you later," says Keith.

The diseased Laikaroosians are but mere metres away from them. Keith skirts around them partway and throws the bloody rag at them, but it only manages to turn some of their heads. It isn't enough to fully take their attention from the stench of blood on Lance, he thinks, and he swiftly slices the back of his hand, cupping his mouth over it to sucking a mouthful of blood. He spurts fresh blood in their faces and in the air, whipping the rest of them into a frenzy. He can feel the adrenaline singing in his veins and his senses are heightened. He can read the direction of the wind on his skin and smell the coppery blood. He feels the thrill of the hunt, fear and excitement firing his nerves, and yells, "Come and get me, slowpokes!"

Smell and sound stir the swarm, and Lance watches Keith manipulate the rabid horde skillfully, like a pilot weaving his plane through rocks at full speed. He feels the thrumming energy from Keith's movements, and thinks it is beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

The swarm is whipped back to life, every single one within screaming for blood and scrambling towards Keith. He leads them out, a confident smirk surfacing as he zips between the trees and smears the trunks with a trail of fresh blood, forcing the swarm to follow his lead and for a moment, Lance thinks Keith looks like he is _dancing._

Feeling returns to his shaking limbs and Lance makes his way in the opposite direction, bitterly knowing he isn't of any help here. He'll catch a quick break, and go back to help Keith, he promises himself.  


* * *

  
He finds Keith under the shadows of the dense trees, back towards a rocky outcrop. Keith is fending off considerably less of a swarm, now whacking a diseased Laikaroosian off his arm with a branch. His gun is gone, and Lance can only assume it ran out of energy, crystal, batteries, whatever Galra tech runs on, because on the way to Keith, Lance had depleted his own gun of shots. He is holding his own bayard, hoping never needing to shoot anyone.

He shoots to distract and flees, and it has gotten him this far to Keith.

Keith is staggering from the strain of exertion, and Lance thinks he must be running on sheer willpower alone, because Keith's eyes are facing the ground as he lashes the stick out and pushes back another diseased Laikaroosian that comes too close. Keith's movements are without conscious thought, his body purely reacting to any intruder stepping over an invisible circle drawn around him.

Unconscious Laikaroosians scatter around the area, and Lance shudders when he sees some of them with blood on their mouths.

"Keith!" calls out Lance.

Keith hears his name, a word so clear it cuts through the buzzing in his ears.

_Lance. He looks fine. He's not hurt._

Relief floods through his body and his legs finally give way and he lands his ass painfully on the rocks.

The remaining Laikaroosians pounce, and he holds out his arm in defense.

Lance yells when he sees Keith being attacked. He reaches for the Laikaroosians but they had already sank their teeth into Keith's arm, their mouths bloody as he rips them off like leeches and flings them to the ground. He steps in front of Keith and is about to knock them out when he sees they have stopped moving. He turns back to Keith and kneels beside him. Now they are close and he sees Keith's arm is covered in blood; there are tear marks in his suit where the armour isn't able to cover. Bloodied bite marks are everywhere on his limbs and neck; there is even one on his face.

"Shit," says Lance softly as he runs his hands gently over Keith's arms, cataloguing his wounds. "Shit, shit, shit. I shouldn't have distracted you."

"Why didn't you go back to the tower?"

"The hell I can do that," growls Lance. "How are you?"

"It's nothing serious, just a lot of shallow cuts," says Keith. His throat is dry and is starting to hurt.

"You're a fucking idiot," says Lance.

"So are you."

Lance heaves Keith back to his feet, and they make their way through the sea of mostly unconscious Laikaroosians back to the tower.

"I can walk by m'self," says Keith. His words are beginning to slur. Lance feels his heart sinking.

"Let me help," Lance insists. "I'm just returning a favour so I won't owe you."

"'kay."

"Cool."

They are halfway there before Keith's legs completely gives out, and Lance can't hold them both up because his own legs are burning from exhaustion.

"Break," says Keith.

"Five minutes," says Lance. Keith hums in acknowledgement.

"How are you feeling?" asks Lance.

"Cold."

Lance brings a hand to Keith's face. His skin is warm to the touch. Maybe a little too warm. "You have a fever."

His eyes widen as Keith takes his hand away and leans forward, bumping his head against Lance's shoulder.

"I'm not feeling so good right now," Keith murmurs. Lance hasn't mentioned another word about the bite wounds so he guessed he has to broach it himself. "Maybe...I'm infected."

Lance wraps his arm around Keith's shoulders and strokes his back soothingly.

"So, um, do you feel bitey or something?"

Keith shakes his head and hums, enjoying the warmth even though he can feel sweat soaking through the fabric under his armour plates.

"Do I need to gag you?"

Keith chuckles. He doesn't answer, instead pushing himself off Lance and almost missing the warmth immediately.

"We should get back to the tower. Maybe the others will be there already," suggests Lance.

"Okay," says Keith, pushing himself to his knees and slowly to his feet. He is unsteady but he stands. "You go ahead first." He presses a hand to his forehead, wincing at the growing headache. "Don't stand close to me. In case I really am sick."

Lance stubbornly slides an arm under his shoulder to support him.

"The hell— Lance, get off me."

"We did a pinkie swear," says Lance. "You promised you won't leave me alone if I—anyway, I'm not leaving you alone just because you got bitten."

"Lance, don't—"

"Bite me."

Keith groans, and a shaky laugh tickles his ear.  


* * *

  
When they return to the tower, they are greeted by a welcome sight of the lions and Pidge and Hunk shooting the diseased. Upon closer look, he realises the guns are shooting something resembling syringe darts. The two Laikaroosians they left behind are with them, Zeiglip holding one of those guns and Plikkip right behind him holding an armful of refill darts.

"You found the cure?" says Lance, incredulous. It's been, what, only a few hours, tops, and his teammates found, created, and somehow got the guns to inject the cure into the diseased population.

"Yeah, we found the cause and the cure after interrogating some Galra on the ship we infiltrated," says Pidge. "Hey, there aren't many sick Laikas here, where are the rest? Oh, and when we landed, you weren't here, so we searched the tower and found these two. They said they were waiting for you to come back."

 "You guys are pretty...amazing," confesses Lance. "By the way, most of the sick Laikaroosians are that way," Lance points out in the direction he came from.

Pidge looks at the dazed red paladin hanging off Lance's shoulder and nudges her nose in his direction, "What's wrong with Keith?"  
  
Shiro comes over to them, a large crate of darts in his Galra arm and a medkit in the other.

Lance's tired arms betray him, and he brings Keith down with him. Keith doesn't even make an effort to stand.

"He got bitten," says Lance. Keith's eyes are half closed, and his skin feels too warm to the touch.

"How are you feeling, Keith?" asks Shiro, checking over his wounds, taking out the disinfectant from the medkit.

"Imfine," he mumbles. He hisses as Shiro pretty much sprays every inch of his exposed skin with the disinfectant.

Pidge brings Lance aside, takes a glance at Shiro occupying Keith, and turns back to Lance. She keeps her voice hushed. "I don't know if the cure for the Laikaroosians will work because their illness shouldn't affect humans."

"What about the Galra? You were on their ship. Were there any...sick Galra there?" asks Lance, getting Pidge's hint and keeping his voice down.

"Yeah, half of the crew were down with some kind of virus. It didn't look serious, though," says Pidge knowingly. "We found out there was an outbreak of some Galran version of flu they caught on this planet. Turns out they probably sneezed the bug back onto the locals here and it mutated into this monster."

"The cure is Galra blood?"

"You figured it out too, huh? Yeah, the Galra who fell sick manufactured the antibodies in the process so the cure is made from their blood."

"Flu, huh," says Lance. He turns his gaze to Keith. "I hope that's all it is."

"I hope so too," nods Pidge.

"Don't tell Keith about the Galra thing. Not yet," says Lance quickly.

"We shouldn't keep this from him. It's not right," protests Pidge.

"I'll tell him once he recovers, promise."

"Okay." Pidge lets him off.

Keith is sitting up with Shiro's help, bleary-eyed and looking at them, a look of confusion on his face.

"I'll bring Keith to the med bay to run some tests," offers Hunk.

"Good idea, Hunk. You think you can help Lance back too? He doesn't look too steady," says Shiro.

"Sure thing, Shiro. I'll leave the distribution of the cure to you and Pidge?" Hunk replies and gets a thumbs up from the black paladin.

Lance hears Keith resist futilely as he is scooped up in Hunk's strong arms. Hunk looks at Lance and shrugs his shoulders, squatting down to offer Lance a piggyback. Lance doesn't resist at all and languidly wraps his arms and legs around the most huggable paladin of Voltron.

"Thanks, Hunk, you're the best," Lance smiles into his best friend's dependable back.  


* * *

  
When Keith wakes up, he is in his bed. He aches all over, and when he grimaces, his cheek stings. He touches it and feels a plaster on it. The inside of his cheek stings too as he runs a tongue over it.

 _Right, I got socked by Lance, then I got bitten,_  recalls Keith. He pushes himself to sit up and bites back a groan when he feels his head throb. He swings his legs over the bed and hits something soft.

The pile of pillows and blankets on the floor shift and Keith swiftly pulls his legs back onto the bed.

The pillows fall away and Lance pokes his head out of the blankets, eyes half-lidded. He rubs his face and yawns widely, "Oh, hey. You're awake."

Lance scrunches up his face and makes a thin, mewling sound as he stretches out like a cat, then reluctantly peeling off his blanket and crawling out of his comfortable nest of bedding. He climbs up the bed and unceremoniously settles himself on the edge of Keith's bed, keeping an arm's length of space between them, which Keith notices and appreciates.

Lance is wearing his usual blue and white shirt with red pajama bottoms that he probably stole from Keith's drawers, the colours clashing and totally not his usual style. His hair is sticking up all over the place and there is a trail of drool still drying on his chin. Keith wants to laugh but chokes on his own spit, breaking into a coughing fit.

A hand reaches over to pat him on the back as his coughing subsides.

"Easy, buddy," soothes Lance.

Keith wants to say something, only to end up coughing even harder. Lance gets up and quickly pads into his bathroom, bringing out a glass of water for him.

"Thanks," chokes Keith as he takes the water and sips at it. His throat is dry and swollen, and the cool water is a relief.

Lance grabs some handheld apparatus from the table and points it at him, a horizontal line of light scanning over his face and he turns away when the light hits his eyes.

"You've still got a bit of fever. I'll go get you something to eat and you can go back to sleep," says Lance, taking the empty glass from his hands and setting it down on the table.

His shirt feels sticky and damp, and he plucks at it absently. He pushes himself off the bed and muscle aches aside, his body works just fine.

"It's fine. I need a shower," says Keith. "I'll go to the dining room after."

"I'll wait here," says Lance, falling into his pile of soft bedding on the floor and rubbing his face against the pillows.

When Keith finishes his shower, he finds Lance curled up around the pillows, mouth slightly open and lightly snoring. He bends down and gazes at Lance's sleeping face, marveling at how there's no trace left of the panic he saw back then. There is, though, a rather impressive dark bruise on his left cheek. Cold water from his wet hair drip onto Lance's face and he wakes up, sputtering and rubbing his face.

"What the hell?"

Keith stumbles over his words, "You got uh, a bruise, on your cheek."

"Oh yeah? Whose fault is that?" Lance rolls his eyes.

Keith chuckles. "I have one too. We're even."

"No, we're not," says Lance.

"Huh?"

"You have at least a dozen hickeys all over you right now."

"And whose fault it that?" grumbles Keith.

"The Laikaroosians," grins Lance. "They really loved you." He had been afraid, but now, in the safety of the castle with everything behind them, he finds he has it in him to joke. Especially when he realises, on hindsight, that they were never in much danger at all.

When he sees Keith looking pensively at the purple, bruised scabs on his arms, Lance thinks he should explain why he is making light of the situation.

"Pidge says the disease isn't compatible with humans. So we were never in danger of being turned into mindless bloodsuckers. And your sickness is just, uh, a typical flu thing. Hunk and Coran did some bloodwork and they promised you're gonna be just fine."

"Oh," says Keith. He is silent for a moment, his brows knit together in concentration as he goes over the thoughts in his head. His lips are pursed and his shoulders start to shake involuntarily.

"Keith," Lance puts a hand on his arm, concerned. "What's wrong?"

He hears a muffled snort, and Lance sees the edges of Keith's eyes crinkle and his nose scrunched up tight. His edges of lips tug upwards.

Then he bursts out in laughter. The sound of his hoarse, chesty laugh fills Lance with a giddy excitement. He pulls Keith into his arms, wanting to feel more of that laughter. He can't hold back the beam on his face as he plants a firm kiss on Keith's cheek, right over the bandage.

It takes Keith a while for his laughter to subside. His shoulders are still trembling from laughter and his eyes are damp. Lance feels his courage building, and goes for another light kiss closer to the red Paladin's lips.

Keith slowly pulls away from him and stares at Lance. Lance looks away, and absently chews on his upper lip. He feels Keith's fingers are on his jaw, nudging him to turn his gaze back. He finds himself looking into violet eyes, dark lashes half-lidded.

Keith presses his lips firmly on Lance's for a second. He hopes it is simple enough of a gesture that doesn't have to mean anything, something Lance can somehow wave away if he wants to.

Lance pulls back, and Keith doesn't push it.

"Sorry," says Lance, touching Keith's the large bruise on his unbandaged cheek.

 _Oh._    
  
Maybe he read this wrong and Lance doesn't feel the same way. Maybe it's just relief speaking, a spur of a moment that didn't mean anything.

He dips his head and says, "Don't apologise."

"Ah, no," Lance says. "It's not that. I'm apologising for punching you in the face."

"I did punch you back," says Keith.

"We'll be even after I nurse your ass back to health."

"I don't need your  _nursing_ ," Keith huffs.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do—" Keith is interrupted by the door opening and an apron-wearing Hunk comes in.

"Hey, Lance, I just finished cooking a goo-stew for dinner. You should—" Hunk stops mid-sentence, takes two large strides to Keith and embraces him with his large arms, lifting him as easily as he would a kitten. He squeezes.

"Oof, Hunk," squeaks Keith.

"You look much better today," grins Hunk, not in the least caring that Keith's hair is creating a wet spot on his shirt. Keith smells something resembling caramel on him and thinks the meal is going to be great.

"He's going to suffocate if you squeeze him any tighter," Lance points out. Hunk pulls Lance in for a threesome hug.

"Hey, what's taking so long?" Pidge peeks into the room, and seeing the group, she takes a step back. "Oh, no, no, no you don't..."

Shiro pushes her from behind, right into Hunk's reopened arms, and she squeals as Hunk gathers her into his welcoming arms, squishing her right between Keith and Lance. Shiro takes a step forward and spread his arms as much he can, gripping Hunk's arms in his and squeezes up against the three of them, completing the circle.

Coran and Allura wanders into the room a few ticks later; Shiro and Hunk extends the circle their arms have formed and makes barely enough room for them to squeeze into the centre and experience a group hug worthy of Voltron's legacy.

Despite knowing his sides will be bruised for a week, Lance laughs and laughs. His laugh infects them all and soon everyone is laughing as they hold their circle tight.

_We're home._

_We'll be all right._

**Author's Note:**

> **Epilogue:**
> 
> A Laikaroosian elder stands on a pedestal and opens a book in front of her, and a hush of silence falls over the rest as they listen.
> 
> "Today, we gather and celebrate the brave heroes who have saved us. Before we ask for them to give us their wisdom, we will first go through the Wise Sayings we have collected in our short history," the Laikaroosian elder clears her throat, and recites from the Book in a loud, singing tone:
> 
> " _The first travelers came and said unto us : "You are Laikaroosians, but this is Notarus."_ "
> 
> Lance has the look of a man dying to laugh, cheeks puffed, lips squeezed tight, shoulders hunched in and trembling and little snorting noises coming from his nose
> 
> Hunk looks tickled too, and even Shiro looks pressed and his smile is a little too nervous, his eyes squinted in mirth.
> 
> Keith blinks. He knows there is a joke, but it's not that funny, is it?
> 
> Pidge's ears were red and her eyes were watering, her mouth doesn't know whether to laugh or to cry. She just looks _done_.
> 
> The elder continues:
> 
> " _The Second Travelers came and said unto us: "You are Notarusians, although you are Laikaroosians" and a dark decade of conflict descended upon us as our people bitterly argued over being called 'Laikaroosians' or 'Notarusians'._ "
> 
> Lance breaks out a loud "Hah!" before Hunk swiftly claps a hand over his mouth and shakily whispers, "This sounds like a bad part of their history. We shouldn't be laughing." His own face is all scrunched up and a soundless giggle shakes his body. 
> 
> The elder Laikaroosian rounds up the speech, "Our history teaches us that the Wise Sayings of the Travelers are to be pondered upon and studied lest our foolishness cause discord amongst ourselves."
> 
> Everyone claps politely and Hunk finally lets go of Lance just before he faints from suffocation.
> 
> "We would like the brave heroes now to impart us some Wise Sayings," says the elder, gesturing her hand to Lance and Keith.
> 
> "Us?" They both blink and point to themselves, confused. 
> 
> "Zeiglip and Plikkip tells us of your bravery and your kindness to them," says the elder. "We believe your words will be wise."
> 
> "Uhhh," says Keith.
> 
> Lance knows this to be a great chance to make it into the history books. Of one planet at least. He's going to make this _legendary_.
> 
> \---------  
> \- fin -  
> \---------
> 
> Nope, not continuing this fic anymore. No one's reading it anyway, hahaha. :D Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading!!


End file.
